Appendix 359 
of two crops only, with a hazy idea of the management of the others, 
gained from observation of the other children at work. The “general 
system ” of cropping must be the one adopted, and every advantage must 
be taken of the land available; the rest may be explained to the children 
as the work proceeds. 
Intercropping should also be done as far as possible, the children 
being taught — from experience — to take the full value of the land, such 
as planting Greens between the early Potatoes, or planting early and late 
Cauliflower alternately. The early ones, not being so strong growing, will 
be cleared off in time to allow the late ones to develop. Cauliflower may 
also be planted between the early Lettuces. Early Turnips may be sown, 
or Lettuce may be planted on the ridges between the Celery trenches, and 
so on. No patchy planting or sowing should be allowed, such as small 
beds of Lettuce, Radish, &c.; the crops should be sown or planted in rows, 
and should run the whole length or breadth of the plot. 
The table on p. 360 may be taken as a general idea of the cropping of 
a plot 30 ft. by 9 ft., 30 sq. yd. or nearly 1 pole. The dotted lines are for 
intercropping Winter Greens and Brussels Sprouts. 
Manuring should be done in a thoroughly practical manner. For a 
garden of \ acre, 4 or 5 tons of farmyard manure should be allowed, for 
smaller gardens, less in proportion. There should also be a small quantity 
of the principal artificial or chemical manures procured, such as nitrate of 
soda, superphosphate, and sulphate of potash, and a little good mixed 
manure, such as Thomson’s Vine Plant and Vegetable Manure, to give 
the children a thorough idea of this all-important subject of manuring the 
land. This will lead to considerable expense, but it is educational, and 
therefore expense should not be considered. 
The subject of the disposal of the produce from the school gardens 
is of great importance, and ought to be considered in a different way from 
what it is at present. In some counties the produce is given to the chil- 
dren as a reward for the work they have done in the gardens. In others 
the produce is sold to local people, and half the amount realized is given 
to the children as a reward for their work. 
As there is a considerable initial outlay in starting a school garden, in 
supplying land, tool shed, tools, &c., and also a considerable annual outlay 
for seeds, manure, labels, pea sticks, repairs to tools, rent of land, &c., it is 
only reasonable to expect the County Councils to desire some monetary 
return for all this expenditure. The great difficulty arises in the disposal 
of the produce. School gardens are usually situated in country districts, 
